Expensya automates expense management

The Tunisian Expensya startup, which succeeded to
reach a client portfolio of some 4,000 companies through an expense management
automation solution, recently announced its € 4 million fundraising from ISAI
and Seventure Partners, as well as TDR and Business Angels, investors which
renew their confidence to this company. The Expenya startup application
consists of the automation of the entire expense management process within a
company. In 2017, the Tunisian start-up
founded by Karim Jouini, joined by his friend, Jihed Othmani raised one million
euros from business angels and Bpifrance.

The two partners Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani have
signed a commercial partnership with Uber:
from November, their solution is integrated into the US transport
application.

“I hate expense reporting, it needs to become
automated, and fast so I turned a pain to a startup” said Karim Jouini CEO of Expensya in an
interview with TunisianMonitorOnline.

The idea came out of suffering when I was in Microsoft
I hate expense management and report, he indicated.

Expensya is a Tunisian start-up whose mission is to
automate the management of the expense reports. For example when an employee is
on mission he spends for services and all these expenses will be accumulated and
sent to the company to be reimbursed through the Expensia application, Karim
Jouini explained.

4,000 companies in some fifty countries have adopted
Expensya. Among its recent conquests,
the group BPCE, OVH, Thales, Intersport or Tupperware. Each week, ten million
euros in fees are processed through the application – a figure that doubles every
five months since 2016, he went on saying.

Market leader in France in terms of growth, the
Tunisian start-up obtained archival status in 17 countries. In other words, the
customer can throw the paper. The application, translated into eight languages,
also adapts to the local accounting rules of some fifty countries and the
specificities of companies.

After leaving Microsoft, Karim Jouini moved to Tunis
in September 2014. He already has a team of four engineers and premises. The
startup took root in Cogite, a coworking space located at Berges du Lac, the
business district of the capital. “Cogite helped us recruit and find a
network,” noted Expensya’s founder.

The start-upper starts with around 200,000 euros,
including its savings and the support of Réseau Entreprendre, Bpifrance and
Paris Initiative. In May 2015, the first beta version of Expensya is ready. The
application wins its first customers, small and medium-sized French SMEs.

“The objective was also to reassure them,
explains Expensya CEO, especially on the protection of stored data and, on an
organizational level, to suffer less from the constraints of visas.” To
open this office, the two partners benefit from the support of their entourage
who invest 200,000 euros in the company. And, quickly, acquire their first big
fish: Elior, Grant Thornton and Viseo Group.

Expensya currently has about sixty employees, fifteen
in Paris and forty-five in Tunis.. The start-up has opened twenty engineering
positions for which it seeks to recruit locally and among the diaspora
community.

“Tunisia
is not attractive for experienced Tunisian engineers. To attract them to
Expensya, they are treated better than elsewhere, “explains Karim Jouini.

Expensya also helps young people who wish to settle in
Tunisia. “We are trying to be active in contributing to Tunisia’s
entrepreneurial ecosystem,” says Karim Jouini. Our impact, it is there. We
want to prove by example that it is feasible, “adds the entrepreneur.

Selling dreams to inspire others to create their
start-ups, the two partners are also motivated to make their company one of
Tunisia’s future champions.

Addressing to Tunisian young talent who wants to launch a project, Karim Jouini advised them not to underestimate themselves and take care of the startup team so as to grow with the company. Training and coaching are needed on a regular basis for the company to succeed and big dream and learn, this is the way to success, he concluded.